It is a serious insult to our “good news” that members of ISIS or the Taliban are more devoted to a demon they call “Allah” (“god”) than we are to the Creator of all that is and the Redeemer of all that has been reclaimed through His blood. Repeatedly, we are called to the level of devotion to Jesus that […]
I wrote the first narrative, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day He was taken up, after He had given orders through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom He had chosen. After He had suffered, He also presented Himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during 40 days and […]
I have a friend who is struggling with a new business because he is having trouble gaining capital. There is a proverb, “You have to have money to make money.” The investment of money as a beginning of a business can be considered a “foundation,” on which the business is built. Paul could see that what we build as spiritual […]
We have been given a conscience so that we will hate evil. One problem, however, is that it cannot always discern what is evil. It prompts us to know that there is evil, but doesn’t empower us to tell evil from good. One person’s conscience will give one reading of a certain situation, another’s will give a completely different reading. […]
Imagining Jesus in modern circumstances is challenging on days. He wears a turban, old sandals, has dirty feet, and never would ride in a chariot or oxcart. Today, would He drive a Ford, or a Tesla? A mountain bike? Would He still be walking? Until we can come up with something of an answer to such silly questions, we may […]
Muriel Lester said, “Hunt for self-pity as you would hunt for lice.” Lice are difficult to eradicate because they are small and hidden. Lice combs are fine combs that are for dragging through hair to scrape lice eggs off the hair. The dread and loathing and intent for destruction that a person suffering from a lice infestation would employ is […]
My hero E. Stanley Jones said once that he could see three types of Christians: the rowboat type, the sailboat type, and the steamboat type. He explained that the rowboat type does everything out of his/her own strength, which dissipates quickly. Rough water or contrary wind would describe real life circumstances that would easily prevent progress in this Christian’s life. […]
Being born of God makes it possible to attain the power of unending life. Being filled by God makes it possible to walk now in the powers of the age to come. Peter, before he was filled with the Spirit of God on the day of Pentecost, was afraid of a servant girl who exposed his relationship to Jesus. After […]
Jesus taught in parables so that people wouldn’t understand what He was teaching unless the Holy Spirit was drawing them to. Many times, His disciples didn’t understand, but were too afraid or too proud or too stupid to ask Him what He meant. Worse, on days they just asked each other. When they did ask, He explained Himself. There are […]
Two things happened before Jesus started public ministry. The Holy Spirit descended on Him, and the Holy Spirit drove Him into the desert to be tempted by satan. These two things must happen in our lives before we are useful in His Kingdom. We must be in submission to His Spirit. The event or events that we could point to […]